Grim Realities
by Auto The Frogster
Summary: Chapter one up. Uploaded this a few minutes ago, found a major error, had to rewrite and upload again. I suck at summaries. A deadly virus has swept through the Planet, and an unexpected visitor drops in on Tifa. .. Reno? Please r/r, tell me what you
1. Default Chapter

Grim Realities

Grim Realities

Prologue

Final Fantasy VII and all related items mentioned therein are property of Square Entertainment.

***

Not all stories are faerie tales. Not all stories involve a beautiful princess in peril, waiting for her handsome prince to whisk her away into a bliss, happy life. Not all stories are painfree, and they don't have morals. Innocence isn't forever.

The slums were never a happy place. Especially after the Meteor incident. Many people expected the mass destruction and death in Midgar to drive people away, and to let the city remain in ruins.

Those who left had no other home to go to. So they returned to the debris. Like rats, they gathered together, huddling together for the scarce warmth, food, and shelter. Large outcroppings of metal hung over portions of the city. It was wise not to go digging through the piles of waste; a corpse was likely to be found. 

Tifa Lockheart stood outside of the destroyed city, like she had been for the past five minutes. Her wine colored eyes were narrowed, the windows to her soul almost like gleaming rubies in the darkness. Gloved hands clenched and released, clenched and released. _So now I'm here, _the twenty five year old thought to herself bitterly. _But why am I here? _Tifa had wasted four days on the road from Kalm to return to Midgar. 

She swallowed the heavy lump in her throat, her weary eyes threatening to tear up. _I didn't cry before. I won't cry now. I don't even know why I'm here. _The eerie wind whistled a high tune, rustling her hair, which now tumbled loosely down her back. _Maybe..._ Tifa stole one last glance at the city which reeked of death. And she turned on her heel and began the walk back to Kalm.

***

Chaos tore at the streets of the once-peaceful Kalm. It was now much like every other city left on the Planet: wrecked with drug-dealers, murderers, and gang leaders. Some fit all three of those criteria. Decent people were too afraid to let their children outside, afraid of what could happen to them in their own front yard. Only the very brave, very strong, or very stupid exited the safety behind the four walls of a home. 

Tifa walked in the raging city, the gleaming sun barely peering over the horizon. Even it seemed wary of the dying towns. Normally, the young woman would have gratefully soaked in the life giving rays. But in this time, nothing was normal. Not anymore. 

She gritted her teeth as she entered the vicinity, instinctively pulling her gloves up and running her fingers over each materia embedded into the slots. Shadows from the ill-respected buildings rustled, glints of silver flashing in the echoing silhouettes. 

A sneer found its way onto Tifa's face. _Better not mess with me, honey, 'cuz I'll kill you without thinking twice,_ she thought to herself, almost mouthing the words. Whispers faded in and out as Tifa dutifully walked the rest of the way to her bar. 

***

She rudely shoved the door open to her bar, _Kalm's Havoc, _and stepped inside of the small building. Eyes that seemed to beg for sleep roamed around the wooded interior. Tables and chairs were littered around, some of them upturned or broken. _The usual look of the place,_ Tifa thought with a sardonic smirk. _Can't forget the normal drunk._

A brown haired man that looked about thirty was curled up on the dusty floor, his back resting on the left wall. A snore issued from him every ten seconds or so. 

Tifa walked over to him, brown boots clicking on the hardwood floor. She peered down at the sleeper, looking almost bemused. The young woman kicked roughly him in the ribs. "Hey, Charlie. Don't you know I closed this place a week ago? Took a vacation." 

A bloodshot, brown eye opened, dirty brown hair sprawled on the floor. "Got no-where else to go," he wheezed, "Not since the Virus."

The Virus. The disease that swept the world, the plague that killed or maimed most of the populas. The one that orphaned children. The one that destroyed families. 

A flicker of pity passed over Tifa's face, and her heart almost wrenched. The expression immediatly hardened. "You've been living somewhere else, haven't you? You can get out now." The harsh words stung the bar hostess' own heart. "I can't have you living here and dirtying up the place." She turned her back to the man, Charlie, who was now reduced to almost sobbing on the floor. 

"Get out." And with that, Tifa went into the back room, the all-too-familar dull ache in her chest beginning to throb again.


	2. Events and Explanations

Grim Realities

Grim Realities

Chapter One: Events and Explanations

By Auto-chan

***

FFVII and all related therein owned by Square and affiliates.

***

The door banged open with a resounded 'clunk' to the small bar. Tifa, leaning behind the counter on an old, wooden chair, didn't even remove her gaze from the cheesy romance novel before her. "Can I help you?" she muttered almost noncommittally, wine colored eyes scanning the pages. The young bar hostess expected another drunk, or maybe another orphan kid looking for some food. 

"Long time no see, Lockheart." The voice was familiar to Tifa, achingly so, stirring something in her soul from the past, where it was safe to go see a movie at night. She looked up, back going rigid in the hard chair, her hand released the book to let it thud resoundingly on the wooden floor. 

"... Reno?" Tifa whispered, the sound rather small as it escaped her lips. 

"No, it's me, the spirit of Sephiroth, come back to hau~nt you, Tifa." The now identified figure grinned, limping out of the doorway into the bar. Reno may have been older, but he seemed to keep his past outward appearance; his flaming red hair, still confined in the ponytail, spilled down his back freely. Sunglasses hid aquamarine eyes that were always laughing, whether they be taunting, mocking, or just enjoying a good joke. The dark, navy Turk suit was replaced with a raven black suit, but it was still un-tucked, a sloppy reminder of Reno's personality.

The twenty five year old woman sighed, leaning back in her chair once again. ".. You're one of the last people I ever expected to see again, Reno," she spoke, eyes looking him over, then up back to his face. "Do you want me to get you a drink? Times may be hard, but I can still make drinks better than anyone on this continent." 

The ex-Turk greatly favored his right leg, slowly, almost painstakingly, making his way towards the stools next to the bar and sitting down with smirk-turned-genuine-smile on his face. "Sure, Lockheart. ... One of the last, huh? Didn't think I'd survive that whole Virus ordeal? You have no faith, babe."

Tifa allowed a small smile to play across her features as she stood, mixing one of her stronger drinks. "Still up to your old womanizing ways, Reno? Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Reno grabbed the drink and took a heavy sip from it. Tifa took her seat, placing elbows on the bar top and peering at the slightly older man, hands rested in pale palms.

"So. .. Are you alone?"

"Yep. Didn't pick up any more partners after Rude and Elena bit the dust. My leg's been pretty bad too."

". . . . ."

Reno blinked, almost surprised at Tifa's silence. "My leg's was rendered useless, Tifa. I got hit by the virus, too. Survived it. Lucky, huh." There was a dry humor present in his voice, leaving the ironic message unsaid. _Yeah, I was lucky. I got to live to see all of my friends die._

"Oh." 

"I guess the reputation's been the only thing keepin' me alive nowadays. ..." Pause. "Well, my leg might be lame, but I still pack a punch. ..." There was another beat of silence. "... Why am I reminding myself of that old pilot?" The man blinked, realizing that he had been rambling. 

"Cid, you mean?" Tifa asked, already knowing the answer. 

"Do you happen to know any other old pilots?"

"... No. Cid's dead, though. Massive cardiac arrest," Tifa spoke slowly, as if these words were somehow painful to her. 

Reno took a shot of his drink, then pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with a fluid motion. "So. How's the rest of the old team? I think everyone in Shinra's dead. Excluding me. Of course."

A flicker of almost pain wrenched Tifa's face, but Reno stayed silent. "Reeve. .. So Cait Sith's gone now, too, huh?"

Reno nodded, acknowledging, then took another drag of his cigarette. "Go on."

"Yuffie's back in Wutai. Godo died from the Virus, of all things. Yuffie's doing her best to run the town, but I don't think things are as easy as she thought they were gonna be.."

"So ninja-chick lives."

"Reno! .. Vincent.. Vincent left. He went to the waterfall with Lucrecia. You know? The woman that Hojo had Sephiroth with? Said something about how the Jenova in their cells not letting them die easily..." Shrug. "That's about all I know about him."

"He was always strange. Pretty good Turk from what I saw in old files."

"Red XIII's back at Cosmo Canyon, pretty much the only place untouched by all of.. this.." Tifa gave a curt nod to the door, where the loud noise of an outside brawl was beginning to drift in. 

"Cloud? And what about that.. black guy? Bart?" 

"Barret. Barret's dead, too. The Virus took him. His daughter.. Marlene.. is with Elmyra. Elmyra and Marlene live over in Cosmo Canyon. .. It was crowded once the Virus hit. I was able to get.. permission from Nanaki to allow them a permanent home there. " _Where it's safe, _she added silently. 

"Cloud. Where's Cloud?" Reno took the last drink of his liquor and set the glass down.

"He's gone, Reno. Just gone. Don't ask about him." Tifa's voice echoed with a pang of what sounded like the last remnants of regret, or maybe anger. But her voice also held a pleading, final tone. 

"Okay. Get me another drink, will ya'?" 

***

Hate ta' end here, but I'm pressed for time. Tell me if you want more! .. Excuse errors, I didn't have time to proofread. See ya'.


End file.
